Angling with the Fly. 269 



accommodation, and shelter, of more account than 

 those of gaudy lures and deadly baits. With a very 

 natural, though perhaps selfish, instinct, 



"They prize their lives for other ends 

 Than merely to oblige their friends." 



Though an experienced fisher, in a water to which 

 he is a perfect stranger, should be able from the 

 natural features of a pool to say where fish were 

 likely to lie, it would be only the local angler who 

 could with certainty tell where they did lie. But 

 every angler knows that salmon are considerably 

 influenced in their choice of a resting-place by the 

 condition of the water ; and that, when the river 

 is full, he may fish with some confidence of success 

 in places where he would never dream of casting 

 a fly when the river is low. In a " small " clear 

 water, salmon select the deeper runs, such as the 

 throats of pools where the current is rough; and 

 there they station themselves near large stones or 

 rocks on the side next the stream. When the river 

 is heavy, they retire into the quieter water of the 

 pools, and may sometimes be found even in long 

 deep reaches of the river, where no current at all 

 is perceptible. In small rivers, when the water is 

 low, the angler need not fish the necks of the streams 

 beyond 



" The dubious point where with the pool 

 Is mixed the trembling stream," 



